My Prius v Review

I bought my Prius v mid range model on the last day of February in SoCal. I am a first time hybrid owner. Cash deal no trade. Pearl White with all weather floor mats. I bought it for the touted gas mileage and the versatility that the V offers. I didn't look at any other cars such as the Jetta TDI or the Mazda 5 that others looked at on this forum. I did look at the Subaru Outback, but wasn't interested as the mileage wasn't near as good as that touted by Toyota regarding the v.

At first when driving it, I noticed that the car was woefully underpowered for a 4 cylinder, but that was to be expected because good mileage is what this car is supposed to be about. If I wanted HP, I would have waited for the Subie BRz/Scion. Around town and on my 20 mile commute in sometimes bumper to bumper traffic, the car is decent to drive, which is the main reason I bought it, to commute. The brakes are somewhat anemic, having had to test them out a few times on red lights. They stopped the car but it seemed they strained to stop the car. The radio works good enough as does the NAV system. I like the Bluetooth capability and the cupholders galore. The arm rest is like a piece of rock. No cushioning whatsoever. And what about that HUGE BLIND SPOT LOL! Marty McFly would certainly have noticed that blindspot without Biff having to remind him.

The amenities are a bit lacking unless you pony up the 3K extra and get the top of the line model. Owning an 06 Tundra SR5 four door, a mid range model, I expected the same amenities, like the extendable sun visors and Homelink that my Tundra has. The sun visor on the v is good enough when you put it down in front, but when you move it to the side it is totally useless. My Tundra's visors have an extender built in and I wonder why Toyota didn't add an extender to the sun visor on this model V. Why no side mirror signals on the Prius v? Side mirror signals have been around since at least the 1990s, my Ford Expedition had them. The Scion xD has them for crying out loud, and that is Toyota's low end brand. Wth? The tech is there, add it. Or do only the Vickies Down Under get the side signal mirrors. I don't care about the lack of a third row seat, because there is no power to carry that many people around town anyway. Those seats would be used sparingly at best. The driver seat could also use some cushion/adjustment of some sort. It just isn't that comfortable for a long road trip.


First long distance trip to San Francisco from Orange County was a mixed bag. It almost made it on a full tank of gas. If I had driven 65-70mph instead of 80 on average, it probably would have made it. At 90MPH, the car feels like you are going 90MPH, which means it is scary at 90MPH, unlike my Mercedes where 90MPH feels like 70MPH. The car got beat up by winds on the Grapevine, and was an annoyingly loud whiner going over the mountain to get to the Grapevine, and this was with two adults, a 5 year old and some luggage in the back. Average MPG was 39.6 to San Fran, that is if I am reading it right, as there are several MPG readouts, all with different MPGs. If someone can explain the different MPGs I would appreciate it. The drive back to SoCal on the 101 in contrast was a pleasure compared to the 5.

I still haven't figured out IHeart Radio. DO I need to upgrade my iPhone 3GS to take advantage of the Internet features? Right now I stream IHEART radio using the iPhone's app, not the radio/Entune system

What I like? I like the fact that I can fit a 10 foot longboard in the car with the seats folded down. This allows me to drive to Sano when the surf is conducive to log riding. To bring a friend, they'd have to sit behind me, but it would work. As it is, two 7 ft surfboards can fit with the back seats folded down. That is a plus, until I figure out what surf racks to buy for this car. I am still not totally sold on the hybrid concept considering there is engine shut off technology beginning to be available on normal 4 cylinder cars. And normal 4 cylinders are hitting 40mpg without hybrid technology. The Mazda 5 is a better equipped and more versatile car for less money, but the gas mileage sucks compared to the v. The v's got decent mileage for what it is, I just wish Toyota didn't cheap out on the little things, like sun visor extenders, and making homelink available only on the high end models. It is a decent, if boring to drive, commuter vehicle that gets you from point A to point B.

 

Not a troll. I just don't spend much time reading about how people need to find a solution to all the dust that ends up on their dashboard. Just giving my opinion on the v. That's it. Some folks obviously don't like what I wrote, but to each their own. Not everyone who buys these cars wants to hypermile and eek out maximum mileage per drop of gas. I pointed out a few things that the V lacks that other cars in the toyota stable have. For the premium you pay to join the hybrid family, these things should be included, the technology has been here for years, why does the company have to cheapen out and exclude them. But that's just me. So far the Prius v is fine for what it is. I'll check out the Ford when it comes out, as it'll be the only serious competition to this hatchback.